VelQuest Corporation

We formed VelQuest Corporation to develop and market innovative solutions solving unmet needs in technology-based operations in the pharmaceutical and related industries. We know that drug discovery initiatives are working, many pharmaceutical companies have more drug candidates than they can effectively develop, and many vendors are developing new and exciting technologies to find new chemical entities. We decided to focus our efforts in the development and commercialization areas of drug development. We want to assist pharmaceutical companies in their mission to quickly and effectively bring new medicines to people. Our name is a combination of velocity (speed) and quest (search).

We met with over 50 executives, managers, and scientists to determine the greatest unmet need in development and QC laboratory operations. It became clear that the problem to be solved was that ever increasing regulatory demands force companies to re-allocate valuable resources from their primary mission to compliance related activities.

We put on lab coats and observed analytical laboratories up close. It was interesting to see sophisticated, high speed analyzers such as LC/MS linked to chromatography data systems stand in stark contrast to the low-tech reliance on laboratory notebooks, paper records, and manual entry of data into other systems. We saw the process of reviewing paper records with auditors and checkers, and supervisors who spend 90% of their time reviewing paper to complete the approval or submission process. We heard stories of records lost, records destroyed, even records that flew in an airline seat next to their custodian who was traveling to a manufacturing facility for a pre-approval inspection. We knew what VelQuest had to do for the industry.

VelQuest is focused on the problem that over 70% of laboratory resources are involved in compliance related activities and paper dominates compliance record-keeping.